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11 July 2023
We are pleased to share that the fence modification in preparation for kākāpō is complete! Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari has been working for a number of years with The Department of Conservation's Kākāpō Recovery Group to bring kākāpō to...16 January 2023
Biodiversity Update - Dan Howie recounts his adventure below: Dr Janelle Ward and Dan Howie recently had the amazing opportunity to learn about kakapo on a two-week trip each to Anchor Island in Fiordland. In November and December of 2022,...8 December 2022
Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari and Te Pūkenga, Toi Ohomai Cadetship 2023 Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari is a world-class conservation and ecotourism destination established in 2001. Showcasing an ancient, vibrant, pest-free forest,...7 December 2022
In 2009 hihi were reintroduced to Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari. Over three years, 155 birds were translocated from Tiritiri Matangi Island and Te Hauturu-o-Toi. Since then, the estimated population has fluctuated and currently sits at around 100...7 November 2022
With the support of volunteers, staff and the MEIT Board, this year’s Kootuku Rerenga Tahi award is awarded to Sue Reid. A Kootuku's (white heron) visit is both rare and very special. This award honours a rare and special person who has...3 October 2022
Trig 1427 Maungatautari For many years keen trampers and hikers have trekked to the summit of Maungatautari and carved their names on the trig beacon at the top or rested on it as they enjoyed a drink or a snack. Prior to the predator fence...2 September 2022
L-R - Graeme Raill chairman of the Trust, presenting Sanctuary Mountain Manungatautari CEO Phil Lyons with the donation. The Trustees John Walter, Graeme Raill and the wider family of David Steele visiting the site of the Education...2 September 2022
PAUA Architects Ltd impression of what the new Education Centre will look like when completed. The new Education Centre sited between the Manu Tioriori Visitor Centre and the Tautari Wetland area is now well underway, with stage one of...2 September 2022
Korakonui Scool presented Sanctuary Mountain with 12 rat trap boxes, built by the students as part of their community service work at school. On Friday August 5th, Year 7 and 8 students from nearby Korakonui School visited Sanctuary Mountain...2 September 2022
Sanctuary Mountain is proud to be a project partner to the Taiea-te-taiao corridor project. The five-year (June 2021 to June 2026) funded project aims to link two of the region’s most spectacular maunga, Maungatautari and Pirongia via an...2 September 2022
This Conservation Week there is a focus on how we can take action for nature. Taking action not only benefits nature, but also our personal wellbeing. Ka ora te whenua, ka ora te tangata – when the land is well, the people are well. When...30 August 2022
This Father's Day share some time in nature with Dad. Bring your dad for a day at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari on Sunday 4 September 2022 and Dad’s self-guided entry into the Southern Enclosure is FREE! Conditions for free...22 July 2022
The evening was amazing on many levels including: bringing our community together; securing the final funds required to begin the 47km fence modification; and raising the awareness of the Maunga and critically, the Kākāpō recovery programme. Over 390...22 July 2022
Although the weather report promised there would be showers, free entry to the Southern Enclosure for locals on 25th June to celebrate Matariki, attracted 623 visitors. The Manu Tioriori Visitor Centre at the end of Tari Road was humming with art and...20 June 2022
A new biodiversity market was launched today with the first transaction of biodiversity units between Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari (the seller) and Profile Group Limited (the buyer). The mainland ecological island is now able to raise funds for...1 June 2022
In the first week of the school holidays, the education team hosted 36 students and 11 adults from BLAKE Inspire. Students were guided in small groups to experience both Te Tūī a Tāne (southern enclosure) and the Tautari Wetland area, asking...1 June 2022
Recently we have offered a dusk tour of the Tautari wetlands. On Saturday Sue Reid and Liz Schollum guided seven visitors, two children, and five adults. Sue went down to the wetlands first, to see where the takahē were, while Liz told the...1 June 2022
We had an awesome day at the Ngati Korokii Kahukura Hauora Day, working together and interacting with members of the public from Cambridge and the wider community promoting the value of being a volunteer at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, our most...21 April 2022
In April, Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari hosted a Teacher Professional Development Day focussing on conservation education and wellbeing – learning IN the environment. This professional development day was created and delivered in collaboration...11 April 2022
We are very pleased and proud to announce that Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari is the recent recipient of the Waikato Chamber of Commerce Social & Environmental Sustainability Business Award. As always, winning these awards are the...11 April 2022
The Wellbeing Celebration was an intimate but wonderful event with a turnout of almost 100 people - not too bad at the peak of a pandemic. The sun shone and the manu made delightful appearances. Feedback on the sessions has been great and we had a good...31 March 2022
It will come as no surprise to those who frequent Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari (SMM), that it's now proven through a measurement framework conducted by experts, that visiting SMM improves your wellbeing. Experts in social impact measurement Huber...31 March 2022
The Maungatautari kiwi mahi is ramping up greatly as we move closer to the prime season for capturing kiwi. This year we are anticipating we will capture up to 60 kiwi to send to Tongariro national park to help bolster their North Island brown kiwi...2 March 2022
After moving to Cambridge from Warkworth in 2015, I was asked by a friend if I was interested in doing volunteer work at Maungatautari with a great group of people known as the Gofa team. My wife, Judi, and I had done a lot of recreational bird...2 March 2022
Hi, I’m Oliver Lewis and I was recently based at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari for my university project placement for my thesis (University of Otago). I was tasked with surveying the newly introduced riflemen (titipounamu), and working out the...1 March 2022
It has been great to support schools to visit Maungatautari in single class-sized visits as the new school year has started. Sanctuary Mountain would also love to bring conservation to your classroom through a virtual online learning session. It's...1 February 2022
From the Chief Executive Officer by Phil Lyons Kia ora koutou, Things are moving at pace here at the maunga. With kākāpō, the new Education Centre, wellbeing programmes, and returning international travellers all imminent in 2022, we have a...9 January 2022
We greeted 2022 with some fantastic news that the northern enclosure, at the top of Hicks Road, was reopening to the public from January 1st 2022. This is after almost 4 years of closure, but with the help and support of local council,...23 December 2021
Earlier this month, the team hosted a morning tea to celebrate the White Heron award which was given virtually at our Annual General Meeting (AGM). Normally this award is given in-person during the AGM but due to covid, we decided to hold the event...1 December 2021
Truly blown away! We'd like to thank The Tool Shed and all of our partners and supporters for supplying over 20K worth of tools for our Rangers, Biosecurity and Operations teams. Less than 24 hours after taking home the NZ Tourism award for...1 December 2021
We want to say thank you to all of our supporters and we are very thankful for being the recipients of the Tourism Industry New Zealand Trust - Community Engagement Award for 2021. We were amongst great company and are extremely proud of the work we...1 December 2021
A special presentation speech given at our AGM Kootuku Rerenga Tahi – White Heron Award. By Don Scarlet MNZM. Co-Chair, Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari | Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust Before I announce the recipient of this award, I...1 December 2021
Last month, our four new Ranger recruits start their mahi at Maungatautari. As part of the Jobs for Nature programme, supported by the Department of Conservation, our new Rangers will contribute greatly to the project and the future of Sanctuary...1 September 2021
In the past few weeks, I have been sketching up a plan to achieve an annual kiwi muster for our translocations that will take place in the not too distant future. We are brainstorming what tools and resources we will require to undertake as we are still...1 September 2021
Recently a short ‘cheque‘ handover ceremony was held at the Visitor Centre in the midst of the Covid 19 Level 2 restrictions. Waikato Pesticides Awareness (WaiPAC) had recently wound up because the work it was established to do had been...1 September 2021
From the Chief Executive Officer by Phil Lyons Kia ora Koutou He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata Here at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, we often refer to those Kaitiaki who have gone before us. These are the...1 August 2021
Since the March 2021 when we first wrote about the project to produce a beautiful book telling the story of Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari over the past twenty years, our group has been meeting regularly. A “treasure trove” of resources has...1 July 2021
Throughout this year, we’ve partnered with Toi Ohomai to host a cadetship for their environmental studies students to participate in. Our Sanctuary Mountain Rangers accompany these cadets around the sanctuary to partake in varying projects to...10 June 2021
Kia ora Koutou, On Sunday 30th May, we held our annual volunteer appreciation day. This was a celebration of our volunteers and their wonderful contribution to the maunga. Our stories ranged from 1998 to the present day,...11 May 2021
As many Maunga Matters readers will know, much of the work conducted at SMM is guided by a biosecurity plan. The purpose of this plan is to outline the processes used to safeguard translocated indigenous species and to protect the sanctuary against...13 November 2020
The Department of Conservation Kiwibank Conservation Dogs programme is holding its annual training week at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari. Many of the Kiwi Bank Conservation Dog handlers are in remote areas and do not often have the opportunity for...19 June 2020
A new partnership between Hamilton based Convex and Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari is being celebrated with Convex planting 100 kowhai trees around the Tari Road Visitor Centre on Friday, 3 July. Around 20 team members from Convex will be heading to...3 April 2020
It was the biggest day of the year for our takahe families on the 12th March, when all of them were captured for annual health checks and chick banding and vaccination. Thankfully, all four babies have been growing well and are now starting to look...31 January 2020
By Rosie Cahalane I've now been guiding for two years and it is such a joy to introduce visiting groups to the maunga. It has helped me to truly appreciate the uniqueness of our environment and wildlife while at the same time meeting lots of...2 December 2019
By Graham Parker Nganeko’s Pou is a memorial to Nganeko Tawhai, who was the sole owner of Maungatautari 4GIV block in the 1800s. She was the wife of Mahuta Potatau Tawhiao, third king of the Waikato-Tainui iwi. This block formed the gateway...2 December 2019
By Neil Smith Back in 2007 I started volunteering on the maunga by carrying out the monthly close-up inspections of the part of the perimeter fence on the boundary of the Andree-Wiltens farm. Soon after that I joined Rod’s gofer team and...2 December 2019
By Peter Lee-Johnson, Programme Officer, Katikati Tramping Group (KKTC) When Jessica Meade approached me regarding our club spending a day at Sanctuary Mountain helping staff with track clearing, a notice to club members produced an enthusiastic...2 December 2019
My name is Ruth and for the past 10 years I have been a volunteer Visitor Host at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari. I would like to share with you some thoughts about this wonderful safe haven. The predator proof fence enclosing such a large...5 November 2019
Carpark build starts at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari Construction on the new visitor carpark begins at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari’s this Thursday, 7th November. We are very excited about this new development, but there will be some...31 October 2019
There are two types of ecosanctuaries; those which are fenced, such as our Maunga, and those which are not, but which rely on bait stations to provide a level of protection to enable native and endemic species to breed. I have been involved with...31 October 2019
By Russell Ingram-Seal – invertebrate enthusiast, amateur photographer and kiwi conservation volunteer. In July I was lucky enough to be given permission to explore Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari to look at invertebrates in the evenings and...13 September 2019
Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari and food brand Mother Earth have partnered up for a sponsorship targeted at education programmes at the wildlife sanctuary. The sponsorship will go towards improving the education programme that Sanctuary...12 November 2018
Last 12 November 2018, Sanctuary Mountain Chief Executive Phil Lyons and Sanctuary Manager Geoff Churchill attended an awards gala evening for the Ministry for Primary Industries' New Zealand Biosecurity Awards. Sanctuary Mountain is a finalist...